Question

A 35 year old man with a history of intravenous drug use presented to the local health clinic with complaints of a wet, persistent cough, fever, malaise(general discomfort) and anorexia. Over the past 4 weeks he states he has lost 15 pounds, has chills, night sweats and has noticed some hemoptysis. Chest radiographs revealed numerous patchy infiltrates throughout both lung fields, especially in the hilar and apical(upper) regions. Sputum cultures were positive for TB after a week of culturing. The patients additional blood work revealed he was HIV positive.

Answer 1

A purified protein derivative skin test that determines if you have TB.

if the area of skin where you received PPD injection is not swollen or is only slightly swollen 48 to 72 hours after the injection the test results are negative.A negative result means that you most likely haven't been infected.A small reaction called a inturation at the site of test is a positive result in people who takes steroids or HIV.Larger reactions (10 mm of swelling or more) are positive resut in people who have diabetes,kidney failure or other conditions that increase TB risk-health care workers,intravenous drug abuses, under age 4.

peple who receive BCG vaccines against TB may have a false positive reaction to PPD test.